


Bar Fight

by androgynousclintbarton



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Bar Fight, Leonard isn't here for Jim's heroic bullshit, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-10
Updated: 2016-12-10
Packaged: 2018-09-07 16:45:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8808343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/androgynousclintbarton/pseuds/androgynousclintbarton
Summary: Leonard just wanted a quiet night at the bar with a nice drink to start off his shore leave. Unfortunatly, nothing goes as planned.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PeterHaleforAlpha](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeterHaleforAlpha/gifts).



Leonard wasn't sure what exactly had happened. He had been nursing his whiskey at the bar, minding his own business and enjoying the peace and quiet away from the crew, when he heard someone yelling. He turned around without a thought and focused his attention on the situation, attempting to see if anyone had been, or was likely to be, injured. 

What he saw was his best friend standing beside the lone pool table in the bar with his hands in front of his face, an angry looking man in front of him, and a pretty redhead standing behind him with an annoyed look on her face. At this moment, he imagined he had a very similar look. 

They had been on shore leave for all of three minutes (give or take a few hours, he wasn't keeping track) and Jim had already gotten himself into trouble over a pretty girl. Leonard should have known he wasn't going to be allowed one quiet night.

"I said leave her alone." The voice that came out of the man's mouth grated on Leonard's nerve. This wasn't the standard 'Jim flirting with someone's significant other' situation. It seemed more like a 'Jim flirting with someone that another person had his eye on.'

Most of the time those situations amounted to nothing but one of the suitors being rejected (only once in awhile was that person Jim) and the other continuing their advances. This, however, seemed like one of the few times it might break out into a fight.

The last thing that Leonard needed on his shore leave was his best friend getting into a fight. He had plans to relax and enjoy himself, and that just wasn't going to happen if he had to spend the first night fixing up broken bones and reprimanding Jim for getting into a fight (again). 

So, Leonard did what any insane best friend would do. He threw back the rest of his drink, got to his feet, and walked over to Jim's side. If he noticed the way that Jim's eyes lit up when he saw Leonard approaching, well, he'd save that conversation for later when he was yelling at his best friend about not getting himself into trouble.

"What seems to be the problem here?" He crossed his arms over his chest and carefully placed himself between Jim and the other man. 

"Your buddy here is the problem." The man attempted to reach past Leonard and poke Jim in the chest, only to find his hand being deflected by the doctor and his view of Jim being almost completely cut off as Leonard put his whole body in front of his friend. "He needs to back off."

"I believe the lady said that she didn't want your attention." Leonard glared back at Jim, watching as the captain shrank a little under his gaze. 

"I think you both need to back off. Take a walk, and if she really wants attention from either of you, I'm sure she'll seek it out." Leonard spoke sharply, glaring when the other man attempted to cut him off. "Now, why don't you go get yourself a drink, big guy?"

"I don't recall asking for your opinion in this, beanpole." Leonard raised an eyebrow at the sound of that. His boyfriend had come up with better insults to throw at him, and he claimed to love Leonard. "Now, get out of my way before you join your friend here in the medical bay with a broken face."

"That's...not very wise." Jim laughed out loud at Leonard's response. "If you break our faces you're likely to kill us, and then you'd be facing murder charges instead of just assault." Oh dear god, he was starting to sound like Spock. No wonder Jim found this so damn amusing. “Look,” he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, preparing himself for the likelihood that he might just have to take a punch for Jim. “We’re on shore leave, and I really don’t want to start it off by stabbing you with a hypospray. That could get me into a lot of trouble. So how about instead you go over to the bar, order yourself a nice drink and relax for a bit. I’m sure…” 

He didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence before taking a fist to his face. Stumbling off to the side, he brought a hand up to his nose and winced when he felt blood running down his face. Shore leave was officially ruined, and not only was he going to lecture Jim, he was probably going to get a lecture of his own from Spock for being the idiot who got in the middle of Jim’s fight. 

Wonderful.

“Oh, that’s it.” Jim’s voice rang out through the bar, followed closely by the sound of a fist colliding with someone's face. Leonard really hoped that it was Jim’s fist doing the punching, and he wasn’t disappointed when he turned around to see the big guy stumbling backwards. At least he knew Jim was just as protective of him, even if it was the captain’s fault this whole thing had happened.

Moving quickly, Leonard placed himself back between Jim and the other guy, this time facing his best friend and putting a hand on his chest to stop him from throwing any more punches. “Time to go,” he stated, reaching out with his other hand to grab Jim’s wrist and pulling him towards the door for a quick escape. 

He was determined to avoid any unnecessary trouble with the authorities. 

Unfortunately, luck was not on his side. Before he could make it to the door, a hand landed on his shoulder and pulled him backwards. He was fast enough to duck the fist flying towards his face, but the other man was able to grab hold of the front of his shirt with the hand that had previously been on his shoulder, using the grip that he now had to lift Leonard off of the ground and sending him flying into the middle of the room. 

The feeling of a table breaking under his back was the last thing that Leonard remembered before everything went pitch black. He was definitely going to kill Jim for this later.

* * *

 

“Leonard…” a distant voice called out to him, pulling his attention to his side as he fought to stay conscious “Open your eyes Leonard. I need you to open your eyes.” The voice was a familiar sort of calm, and he could hear the sternness in the words. It was like he was being given an order. One that he wasn’t allowed to disobey. He only wished that he could obey. 

Unfortunately, his head was spinning, making it difficult to keep his lunch down when someone moved him from his spot. Opening his eyes was out of the question if he didn’t want to decorate his guardian angels shirt with puke. 

“Get him to medical.” a hand gripped his arm, followed by a feeling of concern and a hint of fear. The emotions were a dead give away for who was standing by his side, even though Leonard was fully aware that the other man’s face was the picture perfect example of calm and confidence. Spock wouldn’t let his worry show to others, it was Un-Vulcan. That was alright though. Leonard was perfectly happy having those emotions to himself. 

The sudden movement of the stretcher sent him onto his side, groaning when the pain in his head went from unbearable to excruciating as people around him spoke to each other.

As he was carried away, Leonard noticed that the hand on his arm never left, still keeping a firm grip as if to make sure that he was still there. As if the person believed that he’d disappear if they dared to let go for even a second.

“Spock…” his headache got even worse when he attempted to speak.

“Leonard, do not strain yourself.” Well, at least he had been right about who was hovering over him. Though, he’d have to talk to Spock about what exactly could stain an injured person with a possible concussion and a lot of blood. Talking certainly wasn’t going to kill him and the over worried Vulcan should know that better than anyone considering he was the second most likely person on the entire ship to come back from an away mission bleeding (no one could beat Jim for first place, ever.)

“Spock,” He spoke again, attempting to force his eyes open so that he could look up at the other man. “My pulse point if on my wrist or neck, if you’re worried.”

A surge of annoyance rushed through him from Spock’s touch, mixed in with amusement. Spock would most likely never stop being amused at Leonard’s ability to be a little shit no matter how injured he was.

“I’ll remember that for next time.” Spock’s hand let go of his arm, disconnecting Leonard from the emotions he had been sensing just a moment again. Thankfully, it was only a second before Spock’s fingers made their way to Leonard’s forehead and moved into his hair. The emotions flowed over him once again, making him wince when Spock’s fingers ran over his head injury and into the blood that was hidden by his hair. The anger that flashed through him was terrifying, and he was sure that if Spock wasn’t more concerned with seeing him to medical that he’d go back and murder the guy who sent him flying into a table.

“Doc’s will fix me up.” he smiled. It didn’t seem to calm the other man down much, but there was a moment of amusement. Leonard figured it was Spock’s little moment of sick enjoyment at the thought of Leonard being the one stuck in a biobed until he was cleared from Medical.

He was never going to live this down.

* * *

 

Leonard wasn’t sure when exactly he had passed out again. The last thing he remembered was the fuzzy feeling of Spock’s worry and love washing over him. Unfortunately, when he woke up again he could no longer sense any of Spock’s emotions, To top it off, the noise level around him had gone from being annoying high to excruciatingly painful.  

“You’re reckless, irresponsible…” Nyota’s voice cut through the fog that was currently Leonard’s head. He didn’t know who exactly she was yelling at, but they probably deserved it. “Doctor McCoy has a concussion and a broken nose, all because you couldn’t keep it in your pants.”

“Now, let’s be fair here,” Leonard could imagine Jim holding his hands out in front of his face, attempting to protect himself from a volley of Nyota’s insults. “It was the other guy who wouldn’t let go. He wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

“In that case, I suggest you call security next time.” This time it was Spock speaking, a hint of worry underneath the usual calm in his voice as he stood beside the hard surface that Leonard was lying on. “Doctor McCoy is not your… protective wall.”

“I didn’t ask him to….” The way that Jim went silent, Leonard figured that both Nyota and Spock had both turned to glare him into shutting the hell up. He didn’t want to know exactly how pissed the two of them were, and he certainly hoped that they weren't the ones who arrived and put an end to the fight. “Look, I’m sorry. I was talking to a pretty lady when this asshole came up to me and started yelling about not hitting on his girl. I was willing to back down, but she seemed really upset by his assumption that they were together, and she was practically hiding behind me.”

Beside him, Leonard could practically hear Spock grinding his teeth in an attempt to keep his emotions in check. It wouldn’t do anyone any bit of good if he made matters worse and gave Jim a broken nose to match Leonard’s. 

“You were irresponsible,” Nyota stated. “If we hadn’t shown up when we did, he might have killed you. You’re a captain now; you need to start acting like one.”

“He’s still a kid.” Leonard forced one eye open and watched as everyone turned around to look at him. “You’re giving him too much shit, Uhura. It was my choice to get involved and I’m a big boy. Surprisingly enough, I can make these kinds of choices with the full knowledge of what i’m getting myself into.”

“Doctor McCoy.” Taking a step forward, Nyota looked down at him and sighed when she saw the determined look in his eyes. He wasn’t going to drop this. 

“Listen to me, both of you.” Leonard threw a glare over at Spock even as he reached out to grab Spock’s jacket sleeve-- a jacket that Spock had stolen from Leonard’s closet the day before their shore leave started, and which looked amazing on Spock (in Leonard’s opinion at least). “Jim is irresponsible and reckless and every word that you could think up right now while you’re annoyed at him. What he is not, however, is wrong. If someone is hiding behind you from another person you stand up for them, regardless of what happens to you.”

“I hardly believe that a broken nose and a concussion are a fair trade for what you did, Leonard,” protested Spock. Thinking about it for a moment, Leonard smiled to himself. 

“You’re right, it’s not. And Jim’s going to make up for it with a bottle of good whiskey while you take care of me.” He waited for one of them to protest his requests, but was only met with soft approvals from both. “Now, if you don’t mind, I would prefer to wait for whoever is going to fix my nose without all of the yelling. Jim, you look like shit. Go get some whiskey and drown your pain. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Without a word, Jim hopped down off of the biobed and patted Leonard on the shoulder “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he agreed, giving his best friend's shoulder a squeeze before heading out of the room.

“Nyota,” Leonard turned his attention to the communications officer, smiling when she raised an eyebrow in return. “I’m sure you had a lovely night planned with Christine that was ruined by this whole fiasco. Heck, she was probably the one who dragged you to the bar.” Nyota looked down at the ground in response, thinking about the time that she had lost with her girlfriend because she needed to stop a fight. “Go try and salvage some of that date, and assure her I’m all right and will be back at work the same time as everyone else, grumpy as usual.”

“She might still be up for going out to dinner.” Nyota whispered, mostly to herself. Reaching out, she patted Leonard’s hand gently and smiled “Get some rest. I’ll see you in a week on the ship.”

“I’m looking forward to it as always.” The two of them looked at each other for a moment before bursting into laughter.

Once Nyota and Jim were gone, Leonard turned his attention to Spock and smiled softly. “You know, I’m trying to imagine you bursting into the room and saving my pathetic ass from getting the shit beaten out of me, but it’s just not an image I can muster up.”

“Perhaps your concussion is preventing you from thinking straight.” Leonard blinked in surprise and watched as Spock raised an eyebrow at him. “I am very capable of...playing the hero.”

“Oh, I know that.” smirking to himself, Leonard held out a hand as an offering to Spock and smiled when the first officer decided to hold it. Feelings of worry, relief, happiness and love washed over him at the touch, and Leonard couldn’t help but lean himself up against the other man. For the next few minutes there was nothing but silence between the two of them. They never really needed to say much to each other unless they were arguing. 

“You do worry me, Leonard,” Spock’s voice cut through the silence, pulling Leonard’s attention to him, “When you decide to try to play the hero yourself.”

“I ain’t no hero.” Laying his head against Spock’s stomach, Leonard  closed his eyes and attempted to get comfortable.

“On the contrary.” He glanced up at Spock, raising an eyebrow when his boyfriend took a moment to gather his thoughts. “You are as much as hero as Jim, Nyota, or myself. You simply...show it in a different way.”

“You mean I don’t kick and punch to save the day?” Leonard chuckled.

“No, you do not.” Thinking about it, Leonard smiled to himself. He could handle being a hero if it came with the admiration and pride that he could feel coming from Spock during their connection. “And i do appreciate that fact.”

“Well, you know.” He gave Spock a sloppy smile “i have to save the heroic ass kicking for Jim. he gets sad if i take it from him.” 

Rather than responding to the joke, Spock leaned forward and pressed his forehead against Leonard’s and closed his eyes. Leonard wasn’t sure whether to focus on the familiar scent that he had come to associate with his boyfriend, or the intense feelings of pride and happiness at the fact that Leonard had made it through getting his ass handed to him.

“Awww Spock,” He smiled, reaching up and putting a hand in the other man’s hair “I love you too.”


End file.
